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Permalinks

by nesika
19 replies
  • WEB DESIGN
    • |
Hi,

I would like to have permalinks like this:

Camper blue book value dot com
(I can't post links here yet)

but I read this:

%postname% A sanitized version of the title of the post (post slug field on Edit Post/Page panel). So "This Is A Great Post!" becomes this-is-a-great-post in the URI (see Using only %postname%). Starting Permalinks with %postname% is strongly not recommended for performance reasons..

I also se that the above site is doing just great with Google.

Am I missing something?

What would be the safest and the most SEO friendly approach?



Thanks
#permalinks
  • Profile picture of the author Mike Baker
    The two most popular choices are either:

    /%postname%/

    or

    /%category%/%postname%/

    I personally prefer to go with the first so it takes google bot less time to crawl my sites and index my posts.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve_Dougherty
      I use the /%category%/%postname%/
      It does create a rather long url but the latest WordPress has a built-in link-short button.

      My main site is all about private label rights (mostly videos) and at the beginning of each month, I write a post 'off-topic' on the newest discount coupon for the domain registrar Namecheap.

      I've timed it before and within 6 minutes from posting I am on the 1st page of Google and usually in the top 1 to 4 spots.

      There may be other factors that help this but I think that the keyword 'namecheap' in the category name and again in the post name helps a great deal.

      Frankly, I do not think you can go wrong with either /%postname%/ or
      /%category%/%postname%/

      From what I understand, the next release of WordPress, version 3.3 will have a more seo friendly permalink structure as the default and will be moving away from the ....com/?p=123 anyway.

      - Steve D.
      Signature
      >>>>> 100+ Newbie Friendly Techie Training Videos My White Label PLR Videos <<<<<
      PLR Video Direct - Your Source For Original Re-Brandable Private Label Rights Videos.
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  • Profile picture of the author xtrapunch
    The best permalink structure would be:

    /%pageid%-%postname%/

    You can see it in action on Personal Finance, Business, Investing, Retirement & Financial Advice - My Wealth Route

    It is good because the URL starts with the post id, which is a unique number for each post. This saves WordPress from having to search the database for finding the right post. It is higly recommended for large websites.

    Small websites can continue with %postname% permalink structure. Make use of a chaching plugin to seep up your website.

    Please avoid starting your permalink with category. It slows down WordPress. You will find this warning in WordPress dashboard as well.
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    >> Web Design, Wordpress & SEO - XtraPunch.com <<
    Web Design & SEO Agency | Serving World Wide from New Delhi, India

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  • Profile picture of the author jumpa
    Yes, as long as i know, if you set /%postname%/ for permalink
    then you will see http://yourdomain.com/your-article-title-here
    with "dash" every singel word.
    it will help google find your article and your keyword
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  • Profile picture of the author barbling
    I go simple and use:

    /keyword/%postname%/

    ie,

    /tools/%postname%/
    /resources/%postname%/
    /sex-tips/%postname%/

    etc.etc.etc. Seems to help!
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  • Profile picture of the author nesika
    Thank you, but why then it's said:

    Starting Permalinks with %postname% is strongly not recommended for performance reasons..
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  • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
    nesika,

    That statement (about performance) is true and if a blog has a lot of posts and, more importantly, Pages using the %postname% only in permalinks... can get in troubles.

    Bloggers with many posts tried to avoid such permalinks.

    IMers are NOT bloggers, they don't really care (or know) about the technical aspects - all they are interested is putting keywords in post title
    That's why they always suggested to use the permalink structure that was against WP's own advice.

    The good news: it seems with the coming 3.3 version this issue will be solved. The %postname% option will be in the pre-set permalink structures!
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    • Profile picture of the author xtrapunch
      Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath View Post

      The good news: it seems with the coming 3.3 version this issue will be solved. The %postname% option will be in the pre-set permalink structures!
      It only means that you can set it using a click. Will it also change the way WordPress discovers posts based on permalinks. If not, the performance issue will remain.

      Matt Mullenweg recommends beginning the post URL with a numeric value (date or post id).

      If your website or blog is going to have 5-10 posts, you don't need to worry about pemalink performance issues. If you have just 10 phone numbers to remember, you don't need an address book with alphabetical coding. Any piece of paper would be fine as you can easily find the address/number you need.
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      >> Web Design, Wordpress & SEO - XtraPunch.com <<
      Web Design & SEO Agency | Serving World Wide from New Delhi, India

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  • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
    The performance issues were due to the so-called 'verbose re-write rules'.
    Read more here!

    According to the patch (see details here) the new changeset addresses exactly that: "Eliminate verbose rewrite rules for ambiguous rewrite structures, resulting in massive performance gains"

    P.S. Anybody working with WP as an expert should watch closely the development :p
    Signature

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    • Profile picture of the author nesika
      OUCH! Istvan!

      Thank you so much for your help, but please help me understand:

      1. What is IMers ?

      2. Please tell me in plain English how my permalinks on a blog with hundreds of posts should look like?

      date, year, month...postname...or no postname...or what?


      3. When you say:

      "The good news: it seems with the coming 3.3 version this issue will be solved. The %postname% option will be in the pre-set permalink structures! "


      Does that mean that with 3.3 it will be recommended and safe to use %postname% option?

      Thanks
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      • Profile picture of the author Steve_Dougherty
        Hi Nesika,

        lol...

        1. IMers stands for Internet Marketers. IMers are people like me, that try to generate an income from the Internet.

        The answers to your 2nd & 3rd questions should obviously be answered by the "expert" & since I am just an IMer...

        All I can say is that from personal experience on my WordPress site (Blog) I have had since 2008 using the structure /%category%/%postname%/ it has worked out pretty good so far.


        As far as what xtrapunch says about starting off with category in your permalink structure...

        "Please avoid starting your permalink with category. It slows down WordPress. You will find this warning in WordPress dashboard as well."

        I'll paste the 'Warning' being referred to here because it says nothing about it slowing down WordPress. It says More Advanced Server Resources...not that it uses more resources thus slowing things down...

        "Note that permalinks beginning with the category, tag, author or postname structure tags require more advanced server resources. Double-check your hosting details to make sure those are in place or start your permalinks with other structure tags."


        I guess it depends more on what your purpose of using WordPress is.
        If you are 'blogging' to voice your opinion on topics or posting some type of journal online then your permalink structure would be fine in its default .com/?p=123 setup.

        If however you are wanting your WordPress site to be seen by the search engines or you are trying to earn some money from adverts then you want your permalinks to be optimized for the search engines.

        I've already said how I've got mine setup and you can do a search for most any of the topics of most any of the posts on my site and you will likely see me on the first page of Google.

        I tend to think it might have something to do with how I have my permalink structure setup, but what do I know - I'm just an IMer

        Good luck with your site Nesika, whatever permalink structure you choose to go with.

        - Steve D.
        Signature
        >>>>> 100+ Newbie Friendly Techie Training Videos My White Label PLR Videos <<<<<
        PLR Video Direct - Your Source For Original Re-Brandable Private Label Rights Videos.
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      • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
        1. IMers revealed themselves... even if some were a bit offended by my remarks.

        2. Hundreds of posts is NOT considered a big blog! You will be fine with that size, even using just %postname%. Plus, the performance issues when using such a permalink structure used to come with huge number of Pages.

        3. In version 3.3 even the %postname% permalink will be among the pre-set options, meaning they have reworked the code and it will be fine even for blog with tens of thousands posts.

        Originally Posted by nesika View Post

        OUCH! Istvan!

        Thank you so much for your help, but please help me understand:

        1. What is IMers ?

        2. Please tell me in plain English how my permalinks on a blog with hundreds of posts should look like?

        date, year, month...postname...or no postname...or what?


        3. When you say:

        "The good news: it seems with the coming 3.3 version this issue will be solved. The %postname% option will be in the pre-set permalink structures! "


        Does that mean that with 3.3 it will be recommended and safe to use %postname% option?

        Thanks
        Signature

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  • Profile picture of the author kenn1288
    if you are working with wordpress for a long time. You will notice that this structure /%postname%/ returns 404 errors, especially if you had hundredths of post in your database.
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    • Profile picture of the author Mike Baker
      Originally Posted by kenn1288 View Post

      if you are working with wordpress for a long time. You will notice that this structure /%postname%/ returns 404 errors, especially if you had hundredths of post in your database.
      I think you would have had something different cause the 404 error. Using %postname% as your permalinks structure will not cause your site to 404.
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  • Profile picture of the author nesika
    OUCH again! Thank you all, but I am getting even more confused :-(
    and I am closer to the idea to going back to SBI and Ken Evoy! I decided to move some of my web sits only because SBI is pricey. However, the more I learn about WP the more I see the advantages of SBI.
    WP is definitely not "clear cut", too many plugings and speculations...
    I think I am back at crossroads and don't know where to go.

    Honestly, I wouldn't think twice if SBI was cheaper.

    I guess I'll be waiting for expert's opinion on permalinks to make a final decision.

    BWT - I've been making six figure exclusively with SBI till Panda. Then I was forced to
    experiment with cheaper options so I turned to DW and WP.

    WP looks appealing to me (on the outside), but the more I am diving inside the less enthusiastic I am...

    Thank you for listening and helping me :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Baker
    nesika, I'm not one to call myself an expert, but I have been using Wordpress since 2006 and believe me when I say that using /%postname%/ on your blog is absolutely fine.
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  • Profile picture of the author samclarke
    I can recommend two options that are SEO friendly.

    /%postname%/

    or

    /%category%/%postname%/

    use the first option if your site is going to be on the smaller side (100 -200 posts or less)

    use the second option if your site is going to be larger.

    The second option has 2 benefits.

    If provides a performance increase for larger sites and in general if you have categorized posts correctly it will provide you additional keywords in your URL

    Cheers
    Signature

    Founder of SEORIOT.COM a Denver SEO company. We can help with Local SEO, On and Off page optimization, PPC and Social media management, Reputation Management, Web Design and more.

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    • Profile picture of the author Ramesh8248
      Originally Posted by samclarke View Post

      I can recommend two options that are SEO friendly.

      /%postname%/

      or

      /%category%/%postname%/

      use the first option if your site is going to be on the smaller side (100 -200 posts or less)

      use the second option if your site is going to be larger.

      The second option has 2 benefits.

      If provides a performance increase for larger sites and in general if you have categorized posts correctly it will provide you additional keywords in your URL

      Cheers
      I agree with you.
      For Google you want minimum "/" in your URL.
      E.g. ( hyyp://google.c0m/ggf/fhh/dfff ) will decrease your ranking

      So putting these two Permalinks are best and the second option is best.
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      • Profile picture of the author nesika
        OK Thank you all!

        /%category%/%postname%/
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